The July 1972 MV ''Karagatan'' incident was an unsuccessful attempt by the

New People's Army The New People's Army ( fil, Bagong Hukbong Bayan), abbreviated NPA or BHB, is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), based primarily in the Philippine countryside. It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aim ...

— the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist

Communist Party of the Philippines The Communist Party of the Philippines ( fil, Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a far-left, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. It is desi ...

(CPP) — to smuggle armaments from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

into the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

via the ship MV ''Karagatan''. The incident is notable for having been cited by President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

as one of his rationales for imposing

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in the Philippines in September 1972.

Background and planning

Jose Maria Sison Jose Maria Canlas Sison (February 8, 1939 – December 16, 2022), also known by his nickname Joma, was a Filipino writer and activist who founded the Communist Party of the Philippines and added elements of Maoism to its philosophy – which ...

, the founder of the

(CPP), requested Chinese aid for military and monetary support of the

(NPA), the CPP's armed wing. Sison secured support from

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

, the

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

. At that time,

actively provided arms to

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

and other left-aligned

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

countries. The CPP-NPA asked for a submarine from China; instead, China agreed to fund the purchase of a ship that would transport arms into the Philippines for use of the NPA. Sison sent Fidel Agcaoili to Japan to purchase an old 91-ton, steel hulled

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate Trawling, fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing ...

which was known as the ''Kishi Maru''. ''Kishi Maru'' was rechristened as MV ''Karagatan''. The MV ''Karagatan'' went to Fukien (modern-day

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

), where it was loaded with 1,400 firearms intended to be smuggled into the Philippines. The ship left China by the end of June 1972.

Arms landing

The MV ''Karagatan'' reached the Digoyo Point in

Palanan Palanan, officially the Municipality of Palanan ( ilo, Ili ti Palanan; tl, Bayan ng Palanan), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Isabela, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 17,684 people. It was in Pal ...

, Isabela,

. On July 4, 1972, the crew of the ship boarded a

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

and met with their NPA contacts along the shore.

Victor Corpus Brigadier General Victor Navarro Corpus (born October 4, 1944) is a retired Filipino military officer and public official best known for his 1970 defection from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to the New People's Army of the Communist P ...

, a defector from the Philippine military and a member of the NPA at the time, was tasked with leading the group that would receive the armaments at shore. The arms onboard the MV ''Karagatan'' were unloaded using multiple bangka. During the unloading, a small plane passed over the area. Believing they had been found by the Philippine military, the MV ''Karagatan'' crew moved their ship closer to the mouth of the Digoyo River. Another plane flew over the area at sunset, which was identified by the crew as a

T-34 Mentor The Beechcraft T-34 Mentor is an American propeller-driven, single-engined, military trainer aircraft derived from the Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza. The earlier versions of the T-34, dating from around the late 1940s to the 1950s, were piston ...

. The ship captain then started the engine, causing the MV ''Karagatans

hydraulic system Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid coun ...

to sustain damage after hitting a rock. While the ship underwent repairs, the captain turned on the radar and spotted an unidentified vessel moving towards the boat. The crew abandoned the ship and headed towards the shore.

Aftermath

With the help of a Dumagat guide, the crew of the MV ''Karagatan'' escaped to the Sierra Madre to meet up with the NPA. The Philippine military was able to intercept the armaments, and the damaged MV ''Karagatan'' sank to the bottom of the sea. The incident was cited as a justification by President

when he imposed

over the Philippines on September 21, 1972. Among the other reasons were the 1971

Plaza Miranda bombing The Plaza Miranda bombing ( fil, Pambobomba sa Liwasang Miranda) occurred during a political rally of the Liberal Party at Plaza Miranda, Quiapo district, Manila, the Philippines on August 21, 1971. It caused nine deaths and injured 95 others ...

and the 1972 ambush of then-Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile. When Enrile led the 1986

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

which deposed Marcos he claimed the latter event was staged, but he retracted the claim in his 2012 memoir. The MV ''Karagatan'' incident was followed by another arms trafficking attempt. The NPA procured another ship called the MV ''Andrea''. However the ship sank in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

on its way to Sanya Naval Base in

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

, where the crew was to load hundreds of firearms concealed inside plastic tubes. China and the Philippines formally established

diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

on June 9, 1975, which marked the end of Chinese support for the NPA.

In popular culture

The MV ''Karagatan'' incident was the subject of the 2012 documentary "''Ang Pagbabalik sa Karagatan''" () by

Howie Severino Horacio "Howie" Gorospe Severino (born July 18, 1961) is a Filipino broadcast journalist, anchor, host, documentarist and podcaster who is currently working in GMA Network. He is best known for his work with the Philippine Center for Investigati ...

, which was aired on

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

's ''

IWitness This article is about American game show, For Philippine Television Documentary, See i-Witness iWitness was an American game show created and co-produced by Judge Judy Sheindlin. It aired on Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous m ...

''. In the documentary, a crew led by Severino along with former NPA commander

went to Digoyo Point to visit the shipwreck of MV ''Karagatan''.

References

{{The Marcoses Communist armed conflicts in the Philippines History of the Philippines (1965–1986) Military history of the Philippines Arms trafficking China–Philippines relations 1972 crimes in the Philippines